Iraqi court sentences Turkish woman to death for joining ISIS

An Iraqi court has sentenced a Turkish woman to death by hanging for joining Islamic State, a spokesman for the criminal court in Baghdad said in a statement on Monday.

He said 10 other women of various nationalities were sentenced to life in prison.

All the verdicts can be appealed, Reuters reported.

“The court has issued 10 verdicts of life in prison against 10 women after convicting them of terrorism, and sentenced to death by hanging another terrorist who holds Turkish citizenship,” said Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar.

Thousands of foreigners have been fighting on behalf of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

A German woman was sentenced to death in January for belonging to the group and a Russian fighter was also sentenced to death in Iraq last year for joining the hardline group.

Iraq declared victory in December over ISIS, which had seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014.

The group has been driven out of all population centres it once controlled on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border, but members have continued to carry out bombings and other attacks in Iraq.